U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Employee Benefits in the United States News Release

For release 10:00 A.M. (EDT) WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2012 USDL-12-1380
Technical information:
(202) 691-6199 NCSinfo@bls.gov http://www.bls.gov/ebs
Media contact:
(202) 691-5902 PressOffice@bls.gov
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS IN THE UNITED STATES - MARCH 2012
Access to employer-provided benefits was greater in medium and large private industry establishments
than in small establishments in March 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Access,
or availability of a benefit, was 57 percent for medical care benefits in small establishments (those with
fewer than 100 employees), compared with 89 percent in large establishments (those with 500 employees
or more). In private industry, retirement benefits were available to 50 percent of workers in small
establishments, 79 percent of workers in medium size establishments (those employing between 100 and
499 workers), and 86 percent of workers in large establishments. (See chart 1.)
Paid leave benefits followed a similar pattern. The difference was more pronounced in the availability of
paid sick leave, which was offered to 52 percent of workers in small establishments and 82 percent in
large establishments. Paid holidays and paid vacation were available to 69 percent of workers in small
establishments and 91 and 90 percent, respectively, to workers in large establishments. (See chart 2.)
These data are from the National Compensation Survey (NCS), which provides comprehensive measures
of compensation cost trends and incidence and provisions of employee benefit plans.
Employee and employer shares of medical premiums did not vary significantly by establishment size for
single coverage, but did for family coverage. On average, small establishments assumed 63 percent of
the cost of family coverage, whereas large establishments paid for 77 percent of the cost of family
medical plans. (See tables 3 and 4.)
Additional findings include:
* In private industry, access to benefits varied by several worker and establishment characteristics,
including occupational group, and work schedule. Medical care benefits were offered to 41
percent of workers in service occupations and 87 percent of workers in management,
professional, and related occupations. These benefits were offered to 24 percent of part-time
workers and 86 percent of full-time workers. (See table 2.)
* In state and local government, full- and part-time status was an important factor in benefit access
among workers. Full-time workers in state and local government had a high rate of access to
employer-provided benefits. Retirement and medical benefits were offered to 99 percent of full-
time workers and paid sick leave to 98 percent. (See tables 1, 2, and 6.)
* Participation and take-up rates were typically higher in state and local government than in private
industry. For example, 84 percent of state and local government workers participated in
retirement benefits, compared with 48 percent of private industry workers. For retirement
benefits, the take-up rate was 95 percent for state and local government workers, compared with
only 75 percent for private industry workers. Employees were considered participating in a plan
if they paid any required contributions and fulfilled any applicable service requirements. Take-up
rates are the percentage of workers with access to a plan that participate in the plan.
(See table 1.)
* State and local government employers paid a greater share of medical premiums than private
industry employers. For single coverage, 87 percent of the total premium was assumed by
employers in state and local governments, compared with 79 percent in private industry. For
family premiums, the corresponding figures were 71 and 68 percent, respectively.
(See tables 3 and 4.)
More information can be obtained by calling (202) 691-6199, sending e-mail to NCSinfo@bls.gov, or by
visiting the BLS Internet site, http://www.bls.gov/ebs/home.htm.
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NOTE
More information will be published in early fall, including March 2012 data for civilian, private industry,
and state and local government workers on the incidence and provisions of health care benefits,
retirement benefits, life insurance, short-term and long-term disability benefits, paid holidays and
vacations, and other selected benefits.
In addition, new editions of Beyond the Numbers: Pay and Benefits will be published featuring the latest
benefits data. Beyond the Numbers: Pay and Benefits, a new BLS publication replacing Program
Perspectives, brings together employee benefits information from various National Compensation Survey
publications into one convenient and easy-to-read format. For the latest benefit publications, see:
http://www.bls.gov/ebs.
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TECHNICAL NOTE
Data in this release are from the National Compensation Survey (NCS), conducted by the U.S.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This release contains March 2012 data on
civilian, private industry, and state and local government workers in the United States. Under the NCS
program, information on the incidence and provision of benefits is published in several stages. This news
release provides data on the incidence of (access to and participation in) selected benefits and the share
of premiums paid by employers and employees for medical care. An extensive number of tables on the
incidence of selected benefits will be available in the annual bulletin to be published in early fall, 2012.
Previous publications containing information on employee benefits for private industry and state and
local government workers are available on the BLS website http://www.bls.gov/ebs.
Calculation details
Averages for occupations within an establishment were used to produce estimates for average hourly pay
within the six earnings percentiles: Lowest 10 percent, lowest 25 percent, second 25 percent, third 25
percent, highest 25 percent, and highest 10 percent. The percentiles are computed using earnings
reported for individual workers in sampled establishment jobs and their scheduled hours of work. The
categories are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers with
earnings both above and below the threshold. For the calculation of percentile estimates, the individual
worker hourly earnings are appropriately weighted and then arrayed from lowest to highest.
The published 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles designate position in the earnings distribution
within each published occupation. At the 50th percentile, the median, half of the hours are paid the same
as or more than the rate shown in the data tables, and half are paid the same as or less than the rate
shown. At the 25th percentile, one-fourth of the hours are paid the same as or less than the rate shown.
At the 75th percentile, one-fourth are paid the same as or more than the rate shown. The 10th and 90th
percentiles follow the same logic. The percentile values are based on wages published in the bulletin
National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 2010 (Bulletin 2753).
Values corresponding to the percentiles used in the tables are as follows:
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Characteristics Hourly wage percentiles
10 25 50 (median) 75 90
Civilian workers $8.50 $11.17 $16.73 $26.25 $39.33
Private industry workers $8.25 $10.69 $15.87 $24.81 $37.89
State and local government $11.77 $15.52 $22.27 $33.01 $45.31
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The tables on employer and employee medical premiums (tables 3 and 4) include participants in all
medical plans, with calculations for both single and family coverage. The calculations are not based on
actual decisions regarding medical coverage made by employees within the occupations. Rather, the
premium calculations are based on the assumption that all employees in the occupation have identical
coverage.
Medical care
Medical care plans provide services or payments for services rendered in the hospital or by a qualified
medical care provider.
Take-up rates
Take-up rates are the percentage of workers with access to a plan who participate in the plan. They are
computed by using the number of workers participating in a plan divided by the number of workers with
access to the plan, multiplied by 100, and rounded to the nearest one percent. Since the computation of
take-up rates is based on the number of workers collected rather than rounded percentage estimates, the
take-up rates in the tables may not equal the ratio of participation to access estimates.
Leave benefits for teachers
Primary, secondary, and special education teachers typically have a work schedule of 37 or 38 weeks per
year. Because of this work schedule, they are generally not offered vacation or holidays. In many cases,
the time off during winter and spring breaks during the school year is not considered vacation days for
the purposes of this survey.
Survey scope
The March 2012 NCS benefits survey represented about 123 million civilian workers; of this number,
about 104 million were private industry workers and 19 million, state and local government workers (see
Appendix table 2).
Survey response
The March 2012 benefits survey included a sample of 12,545 establishments. The definitions in
Appendix table 1 are as follows:
Responding. The establishment provided information on at least one usable occupation. An occupation
is classified as usable if the following data are present: earnings, occupational characteristics (full- vs.
part-time schedule, union vs. nonunion status, and time vs. incentive pay type), and work schedule.
Refused or unable to provide data. The establishment did not provide earnings, occupational
characteristics, and work schedule data for any occupation.
Out of business or not in survey scope. The establishment is no longer in operation. Establishments not in
the survey scope include farm and private households, the self-employed, the Federal government, and
locations of an establishment that are not in the sampled area. Also excluded are establishments with no
workers within the survey scope. For example, an establishment where all the workers are also owners
would be excluded.
Obtaining information
For research articles on employee benefits, see the Monthly Labor Review or Compensation and Working
Conditions Online at the BLS Web sites http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/home.htm and
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/home.htm. For further technical information, see Chapter 8, "National
Compensation Measures," of the BLS Handbook of Methods at:
http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch8.pdf and http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch8_a.htm.

Appendix table 1. Survey establishment response, National Compensation Survey, March 2012
Establishments Total Private industry State and local
governments
Total in sampling
frame(1).............. 5,260,659 5,041,564 219,095
Total in sample..... 12,545 10,951 1,594
Responding........ 7,998 6,618 1,380
Refused or unable
to provide data....... 3,045 2,850 195
Out of business or
not in survey scope... 1,502 1,483 19
1 The list of establishments from which the survey sample was selected (sampling frame) was
developed from State unemployment insurance reports and is based on the 2007 North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS). For private industries, an establishment is usually a
single physical location. For State and local governments, an establishment is defined as all
locations of a government entity.
NOTE: Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals.

Appendix table 2. Number of workers(1) represented, National Compensation Survey, March
2012
Occupational group(2) Civilian workers Private industry State and local
workers government workers
All workers........... 122,742,800 103,882,000 18,860,800
Management,
professional, and
related............. 36,579,100 26,183,300 10,395,700
Management,
business, and
financial......... 10,377,700 8,817,400 
Professional and
related........... 26,201,300 17,365,900 8,835,400
Teachers........ 6,145,000  4,952,800
Primary,
secondary, and
special
education
school
teachers...... 4,120,500  3,642,100
Registered
nurses.......... 2,726,100  
Service............. 26,834,000 22,791,300 4,042,700
Protective service 3,121,000 1,299,800 1,821,200
Sales and office.... 31,979,400 29,254,600 2,724,900
Sales and related 11,769,000 11,633,100 
Office and
administrative
support........... 20,210,500 17,621,400 2,589,100
Natural resources,
construction, and
maintenance......... 9,179,400 8,252,300 927,200
Construction,
extraction,
farming, fishing,
and forestry...... 4,378,200 3,867,000 
Installation,
maintenance, and
repair............ 4,801,200 4,385,200 
Production,
transportation, and
material moving..... 18,170,800 17,400,500 770,300
Production........ 8,818,100 8,705,000 
Transportation and
material moving... 9,352,700 8,695,400 
1 The number of workers represented by the survey are rounded to the nearest 100.
Estimates of the number of workers provide a description of the size and composition of
the labor force included in the survey. Estimates are not intended, however, for
comparison to other statistical series to measure employment trends or levels.
2 The 2000 Standard Occupational Classification system is used to classify workers.
NOTE: Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals. Dashes
indicate that no estimates for this characteristic are provided in this publication.